Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Wednesday 4/10, 7:05 CT

The weather forecast isn’t great for tonight, but it looks like they’ll get the game in. Just in case:

Notes:

• The Cubs are the first club since the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals to score 10 or more runs five times in their first 10 games, and just the fourth team since 1900 (thanks to STATS Inc.). Two others did it way back in 1901: the Cardinals and Orioles.
• The 10-0 victory marked the largest shutout victory in a home opener in Cubs franchise history and the first time scoring 10+ runs in a home opener since April 13, 1984 vs. the Mets (11-2).
• The Cubs had four pitchers (Jon Lester, Brad Brach, Brandon Kintzler, Randy Rosario) toss two scoreless innings on Monday, the first time in franchise history the club has accomplished that feat in a nine-inning game.
• The Cubs have scored 72 runs through 10 games, their most in a Cub season’s first 10 games since scoring 76 runs in 1954 (boosted by a 23-13 win, April 17, 1954 vs. St. Louis).
• The team’s 104 hits through 10 games are its most since also having 104 hits in 1998 through 10 games. And, the Cubs are the only team in baseball with at least six hits in every game.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Yu Darvish, RHP vs. Jordan Lyles, RHP

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Yu Darvish has made two starts this year. One was bad and the other was... less bad.

So let’s not talk about those! Let’s talk about his two career starts vs. the Pirates, which happened in... 2013 and 2016. So those have little predictive value.

One of the Pirates he’s faced most is Lonnie Chisenhall... who’s on the IL and won’t play tonight. The rest of the current Pirates are hitting .382 against Darvish, but that’s in a very small sample size (13-for-34).

So, this is what I’ve got to say about Darvish tonight: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jordan Lyles. I remember when he was a Top 100 prospect and made his MLB debut at Wrigley Field for the Astros (this game). That was eight years and four teams ago for him, and Lyles has never quite lived up to his prospect status.

He did throw five shutout innings last Thursday against the Reds, so there’s that. Current Cubs are hitting .200 against him, but as it is for Darvish, that’s a small sample size (9-for-45).

Today’s game is on WGN. MLB Network will be sending the WGN feed to the Pittsburgh market because their local RSN has bumped this game in favor of a Penguins playoff game.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

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The 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. Here’s how it works.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads” so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in the game’s StoryStream as noted above.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.